Twitter hackers hit rollover jackpot

If you’re a Twitter user, it’s best to steer clear of the main site for the time being. A cross-site scripting error has led to everything from whimsical fun and games to full-on hacking attempts.

The site itself hasn’t been hacked as such, but users both fair and foul have been exploiting a flaw that allows links posted at Twitter.com to be active just from a rollover rather than a click, using the old-school Ja vascript onMouseOver function.

If you remember this from the early days of web page building, you’ll probably remember hooking up a link to produce a pop-up message to read “you smell” when the mouse rolls over it. And there’s certainly plenty of that type of japery going on, but some of the abuse is more serious.

As well as spammers exploiting the bug to produce pop-up advertising, those of a more malicious nature have been setting links to open automatically. That’s being done by using a URL shortener to get the full link in but still allow the javascript command to be inserted in a way that isn’t filtered out by the Twitter site.

A post on the account of Sarah Brown, the wife of the former British Prime Minister, is reported to have redirected readers to a Japanese hardcore porn site. And there are also reports of rollovers links sending users straight to malware sites that, for example, use a worm to hijack the Twitter account and post more links (which is presumably what happened to Brown.)

The issue doesn’t appear connected to the new Twitter.com homepage design that is being rolled out to users: it’s affecting visitors to both the original and revised site. Third-party applications are unaffected.

If you really feel the need to use a web version of Twitter, the version formatted for mobile devices (mobile.twitter.com) appears to be safe at the moment, with the infected links simply appearing as a string of code. Visting that site is also a quick way to see how rapidly the problem is spreading among your contacts.

(Picture credit: Sophos)



Adventure Theatre’s Awesome Lightsaber Adventures

Erin Steenson teaches kids how to handle a lightsaber at Adventure Theatre’s Lightsaber Adventures. Wish there was something like this near the place I live… I know my kids would have a blast participating! Unfortunately, at $300, the price is a little steep, but i’d probably end up enrolling them anyways.

Bring your young Jedis to Adventure Theatre’s one-of-a-kind stage combat workshop. Join professional stage combat instructor and Jedi Master as he or she instructs our Younglings in the ways of the Force. From simple tasks to challenging missions, Master will guide apprentices so that they may learn such important skills as awareness of one’s surroundings, cooperation in crisis and respect for one’s self and for others equally.This class will teach lessons in safety, focus, spatial awareness, teamwork and self-discipline all within a safe framework of basic stage combat movement.

[Via TDW | WAPO]



Amazing Fan-made Pokémon Movie Trailer

I’m a kid of the late 70’s, so unlike many of you, I didn’t grow up in the “pokémon” generation. But even though I’ve always thought the little critters were kind of ridiculous, I have to admit that this fan-made movie trailer totally kicks ass. Check it out:

Oh and by the way, we think that [GaS] reader Kirsten would have made a way better and sexier Misty (compared to the girl playing the role in the video.) Just check her out right here (3rd pic down.)

Fake Office Trick

A short video showing how you can trick someone into believing you’re at the office and not home doing *insert activity of your choice here*.

So, can anyone here can translate what’s going on in the video?

[Via Buzzfeed]

New OK Go Music Video is Full of Awesomeness

OK Go’s new music video may not exactly be as geeky as their previous ones, but since it it was filmed in just one take and features a bunch of cute dogs doing clever tricks, we predict that soon, you won’t be able to go anywhere online without seeing it. Enjoy!

Epic iPad Unboxing Video

Most product unboxing videos are boring as hell, but not this one. This enthusiastic japanese dude is unboxing an iPad, and even if I can’t understand a darn word he says, I don’t really care. Check it out, I’m sure you’ll understand why right away:

Night Sky Offers Three-for-One Deal

If you’ve any interest in seeing some of the other planets in our solar system, this coming week is pretty much a fiesta.

The biggest event is with Jupiter, which will be particularly visible for three reasons:

  • At a mere 368 million miles away, it will be the closest to Earth it has been since 1963, and won’t be as close again for another 12 years. (For that reason, it’s likely to be visible to the naked eye for most of the month.)
  • Tonight also marks a Jupiter opposition, meaning Earth will lie directly between Jupiter and the Sun, something that happens every 398.9 days.
  • The planet’s South Equatorial belt, made up of brown clouds, is currently hidden under white ammonia clouds. That means more sunlight reflects off Jupiter, making it appear roughly four percent brighter than usual.

If you want to spot the planet, it’ll be to the east at dusk, overhead at midnight and setting in the west at dawn. It should appear as the second-brightest object in the night sky right after the Moon.

It’s not just Jupiter that’s going to be easier to see, though. Uranus is relatively close to Earth in terms of its own orbit path and, while it normally needs a telescope to see, those with binoculars may be able to spot it this week. It should be easier to find than usual as it will be within one degree of Jupiter and will appear as a green disc.

That’s not enough? Well, Mercury — which is often hard to spot because it’s so close to the Sun — will be at its twice-yearly high-point in the sky and thus relatively easy to see around half an hour before sunrise each morning this week. Look to where the sun normally rises and Mercury should be about 10 degrees above the horizon.

And to cap things off, there’ll be a full moon this Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

There are plenty of mobile device apps that allow you hold the screen in the air and see a display of various planets and constellations in the relevant direction so that you can match them up to what you see in the sky. For those of you with iPhone devices, I recommend the GoSkyWatch App, which works particularly beautifully on the large screen of the iPad.

SO TRUE: The pain of watching non geeks use computers…

I don’t know about you guys, but as an IT geek, this is what constantly happens in my mind while watching “normal” people use computers. Hit the jump for the end of the story.

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Star Wars Samurai [PICS]

Steve Bialik - Samurai Boba Fett

After writing a graphic novel called Minister Jade, New York based artist Steve Bialik applied his interest in Japanese and Chinese style illustrations, and created this series of paintings of the main characters in the Star Wars universe re-envisioned into a beautifully executed series of Samurai themed portraits. Additional pictures right after the jump.

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